


A few gears short of a Guardian

by Flexor



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Mental Health Issues, Tragedy, outcast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26126221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flexor/pseuds/Flexor
Summary: Link is looking for a shrine on the south coast of Hyrule. On his travels, he finds a young outcast woman who seems to be deeply in love with of all things an Ancient Artifact. Link gives her some food, a little kindness, and decides that Purah might enjoy the company of someone who loves Ancient Tech as much as she does.But first, a little visit to the local shrine is in order.
Relationships: Link & Loone
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	A few gears short of a Guardian

Link's Sheikah slate had been pinging at him for two days now, meaning somewhere nearby would be a shrine. He'd been running round in little circles like an idiot trying to get a bearing, but he'd get a solid signal, make for it, and then it would fade away again. Either something was wrong with his slate, or someone had buried the shrine underneath a ton of rocks. It wouldn't be the first time. With a sigh, Link called up the map again. He was at the seaside, and the place was apparently called Puffer Beach. The sun was setting, and it was time to bunk down for the night. The beach seemed the best place. He could take shelter under the cliffs, maybe in a cave, and the soft crash of the waves would lull him to sleep. He took a good run-up, leapt off the cliff, and pulled out his glider. He made a loop over the sea, and sailed clean onto the beach.

As he walked back towards the cliffs, he saw a light. His eyes narrowed. Killing a few bokoblins before bed would be just the thing. He pulled out a Guardian Spear, moved forward. But as it turned out, there were no bokoblins. Instead, someone was lying on the sand. He stood up from his crouch and walked towards the figure. It was a young woman, and she was speaking softly to an object she was leaning up against, her face pressed to it. Her hand was slowly stroking the smooth form of... an Ancient artifact! As Link came closer, he could hear better what she was saying.

"You're so beautiful, Roscoe. I'm so happy we are together. Your lights make me happy. Make them glow for me, will you?"

Link stared at her, a few steps out of the light circle of her fire. He scratched his head. What in Din's name was she doing? He stepped forward, and the woman noticed him.

"Hi," said Link, drawing on his vast supply of opening lines for pretty women.

"Hello."

"Um. I'm Link. What's your name?"

She blinked a few times, as if trying to remember something she'd known a long time ago. "People call me Loone." A bright smile broke on her face. "Yes. I'm Loone."

Link looked round the camp. There was one crate with the lid off, the embers of a fire, a bedroll. He looked back at Loone, who looked up at him expectantly.

"Um," said Link. Never change a winning line. "Are you hungry?"

Without waiting for an answer, Link rummaged in his Korok-enchanted pack and pulled out an apple. Loone took it and bit into it, juice dripping down her chin. She was one of those strange people who eat the _whole_ apple, core and all. And by the looks of it, it had been a while since she'd last eaten anything.

"Would you like some more?"

"Oh yes please." Loone turned to her 'friend,' her hand slowly stroking it. "The nice man is giving us food, Roscoe. Would you like some? No? Are you _sure_? Well, don't complain later."

Link took out a few of his prepared meals. Meat-and-mushroom skewers, some dried fish, a bottle of goat's milk, still cold from when he'd bought it in Kakariko Village.

Loone ate as if she hadn't for weeks, wiped her mouth with her hand, then got a big smear of grease on 'Roscoe' and hurriedly wiped it off with her sleeve, apologising for getting him all dirty. Link watched her with growing amazement, kept feeding her bits of food until she couldnt have another bite. She leaned back against the ancient artifact.

"I've eaten so much, Roscoe. Say thank you to the nice man." Her eyes turned to Link. "Thank you for the food. It was delicious. I wish I could have shared it with Roscoe, but he has no mouth. But he _knows_ it was delicious. He knows everything about me. He says thank you.

"So." Link sat down next to Loone, leaning against the artifact. "What are you doing out here, all alone?"

"Oh I'm not alone. I've got Roscoe. I love him."

"Yes, I can see that. But what about other people? Where do you live? I mean, where did you live before you came here?"

"At the stable." Loone waved a hand vaguely northward. "People told me to... go away, and so I did. I was so lonely until I found Roscoe. But now, I'm happy here."

"You like ancient tech then?"

"It's the best thing in the _world_! Just look at it! The writing glows with love. And it's so smooth against my skin. Feel it!"

With any other girl, Link would have asked to feel her skin. But it was clear. Even if her body was that of a woman about Link's own age, not counting a century floating in regenerative fluids, her mind had stopped growing at some time, and never caught up. Instead, Link pulled out his Sheikah slate, and called up his album.

"Look," he said. "This is a walking Guardian."

Loone's eyes grew large, and she pulled the slate out of Link's hands. With trembling fingers, she touched the picture.

"Walking," she whispered. " _Living!_ "

She turned the slate so Roscoe could see. Link tapped the screen.

"There's even flying Guardians."

" _Roscoe! Look!_ It's in the air!" She hugged Roscoe. "Oh I wish you could fly, but you can only roll. And you need me to push you." She turned to Link, breathless. "Do you have more?"

The next picture was taken inside a shrine, and it was a little blurred. Link had been taking pictures before entering, and forgotten to set the slate back to Stasis. A few rather hairy moments later, he had a stack of Ancient parts and weapons, a fresh bandage on his forearm, and a picture of a Shrine Guardian.

Loone clutched the slate to her chest. "Link? Can I keep this? It's the best thing I've ever seen!"

"Sorry, no. I need it for my quests. To find shrines."

Loone looked at her feet. "I understand." Without looking, she gave the slate back to Link. She sat up, hugged her knees, didn't look back.

"Hey." said Link. "If you like Ancient things, I've got something to show you."

He stood up, and started to take of his tunic.

" _Hey!_ " Loone stared at him. "What are you doing?"

Link laughed. "Changing my clothes. Turn your back, will you?"

Loone sniffed and turned round.

"And no peeking!"

Link put away his travelling clothes, and put on his very expensive Ancient Armor that Cherry had made for him, all the way to the North-east in Akkala Tech lab. He'd taken it to the Great Fairies to have it improved, until they couldn't anymore for love or money. For good measure, he pulled out an Ancient sword and shield.

"Right. You can look now."

Loone turned round, and her mouth fell open. With trembling lips, she approached Link, reached out to him, hesitated, then put her hand on his chest piece. She made a strange mewing noise and wrapped her arms round him, pressed her cheek against his shoulder.

"You _are_ Ancient," she whispered.

That was not normally the kind of thing Link wanted to hear from the girl in his arms, but from Loone, it was high praise indeed. He waited patiently for her to let go, until he realised that she had been cuddling Roscoe, possibly for days on end. He looked down on her face, eyes closed, rubbing against his shoulder with an expression of bliss. Yes. He might be here a while.

A sudden thought struck him, and he tapped her shoulder. "Hey. Is there any more Ancient tech around here?"

Loone looked up at him, and waved her hand towards the sea. "There's a thing there, but I don't like it much."

"Can we see?"

Loone took his hand and led him to a round platform in the sand, glowing with Ancient technology. Link looked at it closely while Loone stood a little way off, arms crossed.

"Do you know what this is?"

Loone shook her head. "It doesn't glow as pretty as Roscoe. I think it may be a _girl_. I don't know its name. Anyway, this is out in the wet and cold, and Roscoe is nice and warm with me."

Link stared at the hole in the middle of the pedestal, sighed, and pushed away some inappropriate thoughts. He looked at Loone over his shoulder.

"I think this may be Roscoe's home."

Loone only shrugged. She didn't care. Roscoe's home was with her. She turned away from the pedestal and looked at the full moon. Her mind was slowly turning, changing, growing. There were other things out there. Things worth finding. Things worth loving. Living, moving creatures, glowing orange and blue. She turned back to Link.

"Let's put Roscoe in his home then."

"Are you sure? I may not be able to get him out once he's in."

Loone looked into Link's eyes, stroked the smooth Ancient metal of his shoulder.

"Yes," she said. 

They walked back to Loone's camp, and Link hefted Roscoe above his head. Together, they walked to Roscoe's home. Link put the glowing orb down on the platform. He turned to Loone.

"Go on. Give him a push."

"Byebye Roscoe," said Loone, and pushed. Roscoe fell down into the hole, and instead of orange, it started to glow blue.

For a few heartbeats, nothing happened. Then, there was a deep, loud, grinding noise that made the ground shake. A little way off, a mound appeared in the sand. Link's sheikah slate gave a loud _ping_ as a hidden shrine was pushed to the surface. It glowed orange, signalling that nobody had visited it yet.

Link and Loone stepped onto the pedestal, and Link pulled out his slate.

"Watch this," he said, and touched it to the device in front of the shrine.

There was a rumbling sound, and the door to the shrine opened. A rune cirle on the floor lit up in blue. Link grinned. Shrines were _fun_. They usually contained puzzles for him to solve, or they contained a Lesser Guardian for him to sharpen his skills on. And today, he had someone with him who would like it as much as he did. He held out his gloved hand to Loone.

"Come on in," said Link. "Stay close to me."

Inside the shrine was a blue circle, and Link and Loone stepped onto it, holding each other, looking into each other's eyes. The circle shook and slowly descended, taking them inside the Shrine, with all the treasures and dangers it had to offer. 

Link saw it immediately. This shrine was a test of strength. There was a great hall, with stone pillars to hide behind. In the middle of the hall was a square hole that would contain a Guardian. With his Ancient armor, and his Ancient weapons, Link was no longer afraid of these challenges. He took them as a chance to practice his more difficult combat moves. The ones that involved slicing time into smaller pieces. With his new found friend, he would have preferred a nice puzzle. Loone stepped forward to the door into the great hall. Link put his hand on her shoulder and she looked back at him with tears rolling down her face.

"So... beautiful."

"Don't go through the door," said Link.

"What's inside?"

"A Guardian. One that teaches me to fight. On the other side is a Sheikah monk. But you shouldn't be in there. It's too dangerous."

Loone stood in the door opening, looking inside. Link stood next to her. He put his arm round her shoulders, and she leaned into him. She tried to speak, but no words came and she stood there, quietly. Link pulled her a little closer.

"I've got better shrines to show you, Loone. With bridges, doors, flaming balls on chains, windmills, flowing water, catapults that shoot stone balls, and more."

"Do they have Guardians?"

"Some of them do."

Loone turned to Link, put her arms round his waist. "I want to see them all."

"Let's go," said Link. "I'll do this one some other time."

"Can we stay here? Just a little longer?"

"We can sleep here," said Link. "It's the safest place in the world." 

Link sat up against the wall, and Loone lay down next to him, her head in his lap. He took off the silly flower pot helm and put it down next to him. Loone's fingers slowly traced the swirling patterns on his cuirass. Link took her hand.

"Hey. I'm not Roscoe, you know?"

Loone frowned. "Who's Roscoe?"

"Nobody." Link stroked her hair. With any other girl, he might have tried to get her out of her clothes at this point, but not Loone. "Tomorrow, I'll take you to Hateno Ancient Tech Lab. There's someone there who loves ancient tech as much as you do. Almost. I'll introduce you. And then you can start exploring."

"I like that." Loone closed her eyes. 

* * *

Link woke up, and grabbed his sword in a reflex. There had been a loud clunking noise. Loone was gone. He called out to her, but nobody answered. Link jumped to his feet, looked round, and what he saw made him go cold. The bars of the door had fallen down, and inside, he could see the slender form of Loone, slowly walking to the middle of the room.

There was a booming voice. "I am Shoqa Tatone. In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer you this combat trial."

"No! No no _no!_ " Link ran to the door, but try as he might he couldn't open it. " _Loone!_ " He pulled out his bow. " _Loone! come here!_ "

Loone looked at him over her shoulder, pointing. "Look Link! An Ancient creature!" She stepped towards it as it spun up its weapons. "It's so pretty."

Link rammed his fists into the bars, but they didn't budge. He pulled out his slate, summoned up a bomb, dropped it against the door, leapt back and detonated it. It had no effect at all.

" _Loone!_ "

Link pulled out his Ancient bow, fitted his most devastating arrow, drew back, fired. The arrow bounced against the empty space between the bars and landed back at his feet. With eyes open wide, Link stared. There was nothing he could do. _There was nothing he could do!_

"Hello." Loone held out her hand to the Guardian. "What's your name?"

The Guardian did what it was programmed to do. It drew back its spear, stabbed forward. Link saw it go through Loone's body, come out the other side. She made a choking noise, fell to the floor. Her arms and legs were twitching and her mouth moved, but no noises came out.

The Guardian sprang back, sensed no more movement. It returned to its place in the middle of the hall, and it slowly sank beneath the ground. Finally, _finally_ the door opened and Link could run in.

As soon as he crossed an invisible line, the door slammed shut behind him once more, and the Guardian was lifted up. Link was in no mood for games. He grabbed his most savage Lynel bow, fitted an Ancient arrow, aimed, fired. He saw the arrow divide into five. Each of them hit. The Guardian exploded, but Link didn't see it. He ran to Loone's still body on the floor.

"Loone!" He touched her face, and she opened her eyes slowly. Link looked up and down her body, the large pool of blood growing underneath her. He closed his eyes a moment, accepting the inevitable.

"Link," she said, her voice cracking. "It hit me."

"It's allright." Link stroked her hair. "Everything is going to be allright." He pulled her into his lap, put his arms round her, held her.

"Don't be mad at it, Link." Loone coughed up a little blood and Link wiped it away with his thumb. "It... didn't mean it." Her eyes filled with tears. "So. Beautiful. Thank you for. Bringing."

"I've got you." Link kept his face perfectly still as he looked at her. She coughed up more blood.

"It didn't... tell me... name."

Link pulled off his glove, put his hand on her cheek. "I'll ask it. After you've had a little sleep."

Loone smiled up at him. "Thank..." Her laboured breathing stopped. The shine left her eyes. She became still. 

Link slowly, gently, put Loone on the floor, closed her eyes. He bared his teeth, breathed hard, and let out a scream of pure anger that echoed through the hall. He got to his feet, walked over to the far end of the shrine, where the monk Shoqa Tatone sat in the blue-lined force field that kept him outside time. Link pulled back his fist and smashed it into the field. It shattered into a thousand pieces. The dusty voice of the monk sounded.

"Your overcoming this challenge averts a great tragedy. Please accept..."

Link stepped forward, and smashed his fist through the paper-like skin of the monk. He grabbed the Spirit Orb and watched Shoqa Tatone burn up and dissolve into nothing. He looked at the purple glowing thing in his hand. It couldn't help Loone. He clutched it to his chest, and it melted into him like all the others.

Link slowly walked back to Loone. He closed his eyes. To Loone's body. He sobbed. To Loone's dead body. He lifted her off the floor, carried her to the place the monk had just left and laid her to rest. The smile was still on her face. He laid her out straight, crossed her arms on her chest, kissed her forehead once.

Link turned round and left the Shoqa Tatone shrine, never to return. 

* * *

Link scoured the countryside for the place where Loone might have lived, but the closest were the Highland Stables. He walked up to the stable master Padok.

"How can I help you? Do you wish to stable a horse? Take one out?"

Link shook his head sadly. "I'm here for someone else. Do you know a woman named Loone?"

"Loone?" a man waiting behind Link laughed. "Loony Loone you mean? By the Gods, have you found her? You didn't bring her back with you did you?"

Link slowly turned round. "She is dead."

"Really? How did that happen?"

"She was killed by an Ancient Guardian."

The man laughed. _Laughed!_ "That's what you get for sucking up to the spawn of Ganon. Thank the gods she wasn't here. If she'd drawn that thing to the stable, decent people could have paid the price."

Link turned cold. "Did she live here?"

"Until we threw her out. Always going on about how great that Ancient junk is. Took her long enough to catch on that that sort of thing isn't wanted here. Mind you, she was always a few gears short of a Guardian. Probably the best thing that could have happened."

Link turned square to the man. "You could have taken care of her."

"There's a war on if you haven't noticed. Bokoblins and moblins all over the Ganon-infested place. Nobody's got time for crackpots. Why didn't _you_ take care of her?" He grinned. "Or did you? You don't need her to be clever to-"

He never finished hs sentence. Link's fist smashed into his face, and he fell to the floor, bleeding. Link felt something and looked round to see Padok poking a spear in his back.

"Thanks for the news, _friend_. She will be remembered. Now I suggest you get going while the going is good."

Link scowled. He knew he could kill the stable master in at least three different ways. He could kill everyone here. But he could not bring the dead back to life. And it was _his_ fault that she was dead. The blame was his to live with. He pulled out his slate, selected a random destination, and _went_.


End file.
